BILL NUMBER: SB 569 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 861
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 10, 1999
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 8, 1999
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 10, 1999
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 9, 1999
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 3, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 28, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 27, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Senator Alarcon
FEBRUARY 23, 1999
An act to add and repeal Chapter 9.5 (commencing with Section
19820) of Part 2 of Division 10 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to disabled persons, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 569, Alarcon. Employment of persons with disabilities.
Existing law creates various employment programs for persons with
disabilities under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Rehabilitation.
This bill would establish a 3-year pilot program under which the
department would be required to allocate funds to a private,
nonprofit organization in Los Angeles County that has demonstrated
the ability to provide assessment and vocational services to disabled
clients for over a period of at least 50 years, for operation of an
employment program for persons with disabilities meeting specified
requirements.
This bill would appropriate $115,000 from the General Fund to the
department for allocation for startup costs and first-year
implementation of the program.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 9.5 (commencing with Section 19820) is added to
Part 2 of Division 10 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 9.5. PREEMPLOYMENT PILOT PROGRAM FOR PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES
19820. (a) The department shall allocate funding pursuant to this
chapter to a private, nonprofit organization in Los Angeles County
that has demonstrated the ability to provide assessment and
vocational services to disabled clients for over a period of at least
50 years in order to establish a pilot employment program for adults
with developmental, physical, and emotional disabilities who are
eligible for Department of Rehabilitation services but who are
currently unable to receive those services. Regional center clients
shall not be eligible for the pilot project.
(b) The program shall serve adults with one or more disabilities
who express a desire to increase their daily living skills to a level
that will enable them to obtain community-based employment and who
can benefit from a structured program outside their home environment.
(c) The pilot program shall operate for a period of three years.
(d) The purpose of this pilot program shall be to test whether
additional expenditures of state funds on rehabilitation services for
clients, who would otherwise be unable to receive services from the
Department of Rehabilitation due to funding limitations, will result
in increases in employment, earnings, and self-sufficiency. The
pilot program will be considered a success if it can be shown that
its clients reduce their reliance on other governmental programs so
that demonstrated savings in these other programs are sufficient to
offset the cost of the rehabilitation services.
19821. (a) The two primary components of the program established
pursuant to this chapter shall be prevocational training and
preemployment preparation. A certified vocational evaluator and a
rehabilitation counselor, in consultation with the client, family
members, or advocates shall determine the component into which a
client shall enter the program.
(b) Clients who are assessed as having adequate daily living
skills or who satisfactorily complete this component shall, if
interested in community-based employment, receive prevocational
training. Clients who successfully complete the prevocational
component shall be eligible to receive preemployment preparation
training. Clients in the preemployment preparation component shall
be assisted in formulating and achieving a vocational action plan, as
well as obtaining the vocational skills necessary for its
achievement.
19822. (a) The department shall conduct an evaluation of the
pilot program provided for in this chapter and of the outcomes
achieved. The evaluation shall report on the characteristics of the
pilot program's participants, including their age, sex, ethnicity,
and nature of disability. The evaluation shall document the
procedures to select clients, the nature, cost, and duration of
services received during pilot program participation, and the extent
and nature of other public and private services used by the clients
before, during, and after program participation. The evaluation
shall, to the extent possible, provide estimates of the overall
average cost of the program, the average cost of governmental
services used prior to program participation, and the average cost of
services after program participation, in order to determine whether
participation in the pilot program resulted in any reduction in
reliance on publicly funded services.
(b) The department shall submit the evaluation to the Legislature
no later than December 31, 2002.
19823. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2003, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2003, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 2. There is hereby appropriated the sum of one hundred
fifteen thousand dollars ($115,000) from the General Fund to the
Department of Rehabilitation for allocation for startup costs and
first-year implementation of Chapter 9.5 (commencing with Section
19820) of Part 2 of Division 10 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.